RADFORD, Va. – Although sophomore
Maddie Smith landed her eighth goal of the 2026 season (tied for the single-year Presbyterian College women's soccer team record), the Blue Hose were bested by Radford in the last match of the fall by a 4-1 differential on Saturday night.
PC evened the score in the 21
st minute with Smith's record-tying shot after an initial attempt by
Emma Brown was sent back. The Highlanders answered with a goal at 36:29 before adding some insurance at 56:48 and 81:04.
The loss ends Presbyterian's campaign with a record of 4-10-1 (1-7 in Big South matches). Radford will be the number four seed in next week's conference tournament.
FINAL SCORE: Radford, 3 – Presbyterian, 1
RECORDS: Presbyterian (4-10-1, 1-7)…Radford (7-7-1, 5-3)
LOCATION: Cupp Stadium (Radford, Va.)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- PC's lone goal on Halloween night came just three minutes after the Highlanders drew first blood, capitalizing on a well-placed corner kick by
Cassidy Oldham and Smith sneaking one in.
- That was the first score that Radford had allowed in the previous 298 minutes, as they pitched three straight Big South shutouts against Gardner-Webb, Charleston Southern, and Longwood.
- Smith officially ties the eight-goal mark that Tori Lopez first achieved 13 years ago to equal the school D-I record, a tremendous first year in Clinton after transferring from USC Upstate.
- After 16 minutes of back-and-forth play, Radford regained the lead where it would stay for the rest of the night. Alex Garcia played 68 minutes in the net for PC, and she was succeeded by fellow freshman
Ingeborg Blystad for the last 22.
- The home side registered 21 total shots, with 13 of them being on target. The Highlanders managed eight corner kick tries, outshooting Presby after halftime 11-2.
THE LEGEND OF LYLA
- Along with Brown,
Emilia Lieber, and
Lucy Cartin, Saturday was the final performance for senior
Lyla Chadd who never missed a single match in her entire four years with the Blue Hose.
- A native of Charlotte, Chadd participated in all 65 games since arriving on Presbyterian's campus in 2023 and logged the full 90 minutes in 57 of them.
- Including the calculations from Radford, Lyla spent her collegiate career on the field for 5,807 out of a possible 5,870 minutes. That amounts to 99 percent, or 96 total hours.
- She will hang up the Blue Hose kit with the third-most minutes played of anyone in PC's Division I era (2007 onward).
